This document provides an overview of the business awards process. It discusses common misconceptions about awards, why companies should enter awards, and how to plan an effective awards strategy. Key steps in the process include identifying the best stories to enter, choosing the right awards, writing strong submissions that demonstrate angle, innovation and impact, and preparing an engaging presentation for judging panels. Effective evidence gathering, storytelling and following submission guidelines are emphasized as important for winning awards.

2. DEMYSTIFYING
THE
BUSINESS
AWARDS
PROCESS
ECHO
ILOTT
BOOST
MARKETING

3. Agenda
§ Common
misconcep7ons
§ Why
enter
awards?
§ Which
awards
should
you
enter?
§ How
do
you
choose
the
right
story
to
enter?
§ How
do
you
write
a
great
award
entry?
§ How
to
give
a
great
presenta7on

4. Common
misconcepAons
“Only
the
big
companies
win
the
big
awards”
“I’ll
start
with
a
regional
award
as
they’re
easier
to
win”
“If
I
sponsor
a
category
I’ll
have
a
stronger
chance”
“If
I
buy
more
seats
at
the
awards
dinner,
I’m
more
likely
to
win”
“I
can’t
enter
it
into
awards
because
it’s
confiden7al”
“We
don’t
need
to
do
a
survey
because
we’ve
got
loads
of
quotes
from
customers
to
show
our
product’s
great”
“I’m
not
sure
if
it’s
innova7ve
or
not,
I’ll
let
the
judges
decide”
“It’s
not
gone
live
yet
but
it’s
a
great
project
so
it
should
win”

5. But
why?
budget /funding
Get more
Attract
talent
PR
opportuni7es,
impress
suppliers/resellers
Get
more
budget
/
funding
Increase
employee
engagement
and
reten7on
Benchmark
against
the
best
Prove
you’re
the
best
ALract
talent
Who
wouldn’t
want
to
work
for
an
award-­‐
winning
team?
Impress
investors
or
senior
management

6. Which
wine
would
you
buy?

7. Which
wine
would
you
buy
now?

8. Conversion
rate
8
“Don’t
just
take
our
word
for
it”
“Your
solu)on
will
be
so
amazing
it
will
probably
win
awards”

9. 9
The
awards
planning
process
1)
What
sort
of
awards
would
add
value?
3)
Matchmaking
–
crea7ng
the
awards
plan
2)
What
are
our
best
stories?
4)
What
evidence
do
we
need?

10. What
awards
would
add
value?
1.
Who
do
we
want
to
impress?
Clients
(new
and
exis7ng),
employees,
poten7al
recruits.
2.
What
are
our
key
messages?
Themes:
Innova7on,
customer
care,
growth,
Green/CSR

11. What
are
our
best
stories?
Strength of innovation
11
Project
C
Strength of impact
Project
B
Project
E
Project
A
Project
D

12. What
sort
of
awards
can
we
enter?
12
Company
of
the
year
Team/Dept
of
the
year
Individual
of
the
year
IT
innova7on/
product
Great
place
to
work
Customer
care/
service
Green
IT
Project
of
the
year
(client’s
sector)

13. Picking
the
right
awards
and
categories
13
www.boost-­‐marke7ng.co.uk/awards
Search
by
sector
or
keyword
–
don’t
forget
your
clients’
sectors
(HR,
financial
services,
contact
centre
etc)

14. How
to
spot
the
good
awards
Credible
organiser
or
sponsor
(e.g.
BSC,
CompTIA)
Credible
judges
A
good
name
and
good
logo
(does
it
pass
the
signature
test?)
Sensible
fee
for
entering
No
fee
for
winning
Feedback
A
photo
opportunity
14

15. Is
an
amazing
story
enough?

16. Three
key
elements
There are three things that make a winning entry: ANGLE, INNOVATION and
IMPACT
1.Angle:
Tell
a
story!
Challenges
or
ambi7ous
objec7ve.
Industry
implica7ons
2.
InnovaAon:
What
superla7ves
can
you
apply?
First?
Only?
Biggest?
A
first
for
your
client’s
sector?
Applica7on
is
as
important
as
the
technology
itself.
3.
Impact:
More
than
just
opera7onal
metrics.
IT
as
a
business
enabler
–
what
has
been
the
impact
on
the
client’s
strategic
objec7ves?
You can win with 2, but rarely just one.

17. More
than
just
a
story
An average story
Well written
and
Well presented
and
Well evidenced
Badly written
Or
Badly presented
Or
Badly evidenced
An amazing story
Contender Serious
contender
No hoper Long shot

18. Planning
your
submission
STRATEGIC
OBJECTIVES
PROJECT
OBJECTIVES
RESEARCH
/
STRATEGY
STRATEGIC
OBJECTIVES
MET
PROJECT
OBJECTIVES
MET
DESIGN
/
EXECUTION

19. WriAng
your
submission

20. PreparaAon
is
key
Research
previous
winners
Read
and
re-­‐
read
the
criteria
Format
Suppor7ng
Confiden7ality
material?
Client
endorsement?
Second
stage?

21. What
is
“well
wriLen”?
§ Bigger
picture
(“Why?”
x5)
§ Strong
narra7ve
(passion)
§ Great
first
impression
(grab
the
judges
in
the
first
paragraph)
§ Visibly
factual
§ Skimmable
§ No
waffle!

22. WriAng
submissions
–
more
Aps
§ Choose
person
(I,
we
or
they)
and
s7ck
with
it.
§ Write
your
headings
and
subheadings
first.
§ Combine
sta7s7cs
with
examples.
§ Get
someone
else
to
read
it.
§ Dare
to
be
different.

23. Common
pi]alls
§ Not
explicitly
answering
quesAons.
§ Not
substanAaAng
claims.
§ Last
minute
panics.
§ Going
over
word
count.
§ Entering
without
approval.
§ Leaving
it
up
to
the
judges
to
decipher.
§ Using
jargon
(your
judge
may
not
be
an
expert
in
your
area).
§ Using
copy/pasted
content.

24. So
what
is
“well
presented”?

25. PresentaAon
is
about...
Being
well
(but
not
overly)
illustrated.
Balancing
bullets
with
narra7ve.
Using
graphs
and
diagrams
well.
Drawing
aeen7on
to
the
key
messages
(signpos7ng,
formafng).

26. Same
story
+
awards.
Which
won?
26

27. What
is
“well
evidenced”?

28. INNOVATION
/
INGENUITY
TACTICAL
OBJECTIVES
MET
CSR
CULTURE
CUSTOMERS
CASH
Evidence
of...
IMPACT
STRATEGIC
OBJECTIVES
MET

29. Top
Aps
for
evidence
gathering
§ Look
at
the
bigger
picture.
§ Show
cause
and
effect
(clever
use
of
surveys).
§ Use
surveys
if
needs
be
(your
own
team,
end
users).
§ Research
uniqueness.
§ Balance
quan7ta7ve
with
qualita7ve
evidence
(bring
it
to
life
–
what
does
it
mean
‘on
the
ground’).
§ If
you’re
entering
a
project
–
get
the
client
on
board
before
anything
else!
§ Cost
savings

30. Face-­‐to-­‐face
presentaAons

31. The
face-­‐to-­‐face
presentaAon
§ Pick
the
right
team
(three
if
allowed)
§ Book
dates
in
diaries
(include
rehearsal)
§ Script
presenta7on
–
but
DON’T
read
from
a
script
§ Keep
responses
to
ques7ons
short
§ Passion
yes,
nervous
OK,
boring
NO.

32. 32
How
to
keep
abreast
of
deadlines

33. Capitalising
on
your
win
§ Press
releases
to
regional/trade
press
§ Ar7cles
in
client
and
employee
newsleeers
§ Short
case
studies
for
use
in
proposals
§ Mid-­‐sized
case
studies
for
marke7ng
collateral
§ Convert
entries
into
tweets
(i.e.
survey
results)
§ Including
awards
logos
in
all
customer
facing
communica7ons
§ Placing
award
winning
case
studies
in
conferences,
par7cularly
those
run
by
the
awards
organiser.

34. QUESTIONS?

35. Up
Next
§ 13.00
–
Conference
Lunch
in
the
Exhibit
Hall
– 5th
floor
Mountbaeen
Lounge
§ 14.00
–
Maximising
Your
Partnering
Opportuni7es
to
Grow
Your
Business
– 6th
floor
Mountbaeen
Room
§ 15.00
–
Networking
Break
in
the
Exhibit
Hall
– 5th
floor
Mountbaeen
Lounge
§ 15.45
-­‐
Closing
Keynote:
Jez
Rose,
The
Behaviour
Expert
– 6th
floor
Mountbaeen
Room

36. THANK
YOU.